It could be that you forgot to add an attachment, or you suddenly realised some grammar errors, maybe even an unpleasant statement written in the heat of the moment. But if you need to recall an email or message in Outlook sent from your Android device, then this article is for you.

The recall feature is one that users are particularly grateful for as it has saved people from lots of embarrassments. To recall an email in outlook is pretty easy but there is a catch to it. You can only do it for fellow outlook users. This means that if your recipient uses other email services like Hotmail, gmail or yahoomail, you cannot recall the message.

Another catch to it is that you have to initiate the recall action before the recipient reads the mail. This means you have to move fast enough as soon as you realise your mistake. If the recipient has read the mail, there is no way to recall the email in outlook. The most you can do is send an apology message with the correct version of what you intended to send.

Now, let’s get down to business.                                                     

Part 1. How to recall email/message in outlook for Android

There are several versions of the Microsoft office outlook but the steps below can be applied to retract an email in outlook on your Android device since the Outlook 2016 for Mac does not support a recall option.

You can do this with a Microsoft Exchange account, only if the feature has been activated by your IT department. It is advisable you ask them about this before you proceed.

To recall an email in Outlook 365 is only possible if you and the recipient have 365 or Exchange, and are staff members of the same organization.

• After filling in the recipient and typing the message, you hit the send button (looks like an arrow pointing right on your outlook app).
• Now tap on the Outlook icon on the upper left of your screen. This should give you a dropdown of different options > Navigate to Sent and click on it to show you all your sent mails.
• Double click the message that you want to recall > navigate to the Message tab and click the dropdown menu for Actions.
• Among the options, choose Recall This Message.
• A window appears now with some options. You can choose Delete unread copies of this message if you want to completely delete the message, or you can choose Delete unread copies and replace with a new message if you wish to send another mail in place. If you choose the later, then you will delete the unread copy of the message on the server, and replace it with the new message.
• Check the box ‘tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient’ so that you can get a notification telling you which of your recipients had read the mail before you recalled it, and which had a successful recall
• Click Okay.

There you are. All done and you should get reports on each of the recipients. Ensure that you did this really fast because the mail will only  be retracted for those that had not read your mail as at the time you initiated recall. For those that had read the mail already, you will receive a report telling you the recall was not successful.

Your recall attempt may also fail if the recipient has disabled the feature allowing senders to delete an email he has not read. In such a case, you will definitely get a failed report.

Is there was a way to avoid these situations?

Yes there are some precautions you could take that would either help avoid the mistakes or extend your period of grace and allow you a longer time to retract an email.

You can set up an Outlook rule to delay emails for you so that it becomes easier to undo your actions, and retract an email. This delays delivery of the message by some minutes so that if something goes wrong, you can smoothly retract the message in your Office 365.

Part 2. How to delay email delivery in Outlook

It is okay to delay sending email messages for a couple of minutes after the send button has been clicked. This works for Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and several other versions.

You apply this at the point of sending the message.

• While composing, select More options (an arrow at the Tags group in the ribbon) > under Delivery Options, select the check box besides Do not deliver before…
• Now choose the delivery date and time you want > Click Close.

This is just like scheduling your mail and it means the mail will be held in your outbox until the selected time. If this is a mail you want the recipient(s) to receive soon, then you can select a time that falls within the next few minutes. That way, if you have a change or correction to effect, you can go to the outbox folder and do so before it is delivered.

You can apply this rule on all your emails

Part 3. How to delay delivery on every email in Outlook

• Go to the Home section on the Outlook ribbon > Select Manage Rules and Alert > Select Apply rule on messages I send and click Next > click Next again
• A dialogue box will alert you that this feature will apply to every message you send. Click Ok
• At the bottom of the page, Select Defer delivery for.. > select Minutes and choose how long you want. 2 minutes is usually recommended > click Next
• You can choose an exception to the rule here, for instance, messages marked with High importance
• Click on the checkbox Turn on this rule and click Finish

If you are using the Outlook web, you can also enable an “Undo send” option, and this will give you an undo send option for about 10 seconds after you hit the send button – quite similar to how you recall an email in Gmail.

Part 4. How to enable the undo option in Outlook

• To set this up, you have to use the web interface to access your outlook mail.
• Click the icon on the top right of your web window. This should take you to settings.
• Navigate to the bottom and select View all Outlook settings > Ensure that Email is selected on the left and then navigate to Compose and reply
• Navigate to Undo Send, and tap on the slider to select how long you want to be able to recall a message. The maximum option allowed here is 10 seconds.
• Click

Once this has been set up, the next time you send an email on Outlook, you will see an Undo button at the lower end of the screen beside Sending and it will remain there for about 10 seconds. You can click on it instantly to recall the message.

Need Further Help? Contact Carlcare

Whatever the issue is that you cannot handle, book a Carlcare service reservation, and we got you covered. Carlcare is the official after-sales service center for all Infinix, Tecno, Itel, Oraimo and Syinix brands.

Carlcare provides support services in the form of professional repair and maintenance service ensuring that your phone is kept in optimal shape while you enjoy using it. You won’t find a better phone support service out there.